SC Directive On Food Grains Distribution

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION 

STARRED

QUESTION NO . 15 

ANSWERED ON 01.08.2011

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state :-
(a) whether the Supreme Court has issued any directive to release foodgrains to prevent starvation deaths and malnutrition;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the action taken/proposed to be taken by Government to implement the directive?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K.V. THOMAS)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 15 DUE FOR ANSWER 01.08.2011 IN THE RAJYA SABHA.
(a) to (c): In the Writ Petition (Civil) No.196 of 2001 – PUCL v/s UOI & Others on Right to Food, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in its order dated 14.5.2011 has directed that as a one-time measure, it is absolutely imperative in the larger public interest, to reserve 5 million tons of food grains for distribution to the 150 poorest districts or the extremely poor and vulnerable sections of our society. The Central Vigilance Committee on Public Distribution System (CVC on PDS) headed by Justice (Retd.) D.P. Wadhwa has been requested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to identify the poorest districts or poorest segments of society and ensure that additionally allocated food grains reach this segment from time to time.
2. Pursuant to the above orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the recommendations received from the CVC on PDS, additional allocation of 2,57,336.67 M.Ts of rice and wheat have been allocated for three months to 45 districts in the States of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Manipur, Haryana, J&K and Rajasthan on 21st July 2011.



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National Policy For Procurement Of Foodgrains

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

UNSTARRED

QUESTION NO . 3400 

ANSWERED ON 27.08.2010

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to satate :-

(a) the details of national policy for procurement of major foodgrains;

(b) whether it is a fact that Government has been procuring food items beyond prescribed norms;

(c) if so, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether it is also a fact that the current storage facilities are not sufficient to meet the procurement levels;

(e) the details of storage facility required and currently available;

(f) whether Government is contemplating policy of involving private sector to create storage facilities; and (g) if so, the details thereof? 

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K.V. THOMAS)

(a), (b) and (c) : Under the existing policy for foodgrains procurement, Government procures food grains (wheat, rice and coarse grains) conforming to uniform specifications at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from the farmers through Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state agencies procuring on behalf of FCI for the Central Pool. As such, procurement of food grains is open ended wherein all the food grains offered by farmers are procured. Farmers have a choice to sell it to FCI/State Agencies at MSP or to sell in the open market whichever is advantageous to them. Because of remunerative MSP, procurement as percentage of production has been increasing.

(d) and (e): Yes,Sir. The total storage capacity available with the FCI(as on 30.6.2010) and State agencies (as on 31.3.2010) is 601.94 lakh MTs of which covered is 409.78 lakh MTs. The total stock in central pool as on 1.8.2010 was 544.30 lakh tonnes.

(f) and (g): To augment storage capacity, Government has formulated a scheme for construction of godown through private entrepreneurs by FCI. A ten year guarantee is given to investors under the scheme. About 149.40 lakh tonnes of storage capacity in 16 States has been identified for construction of godowns under the scheme. Under this scheme, CWC and SWCs are also constructing 10.74 lakh tonnes capacity on their own lands.
In addition FCI is constructing godowns under Plan funds in NE States, J&K, U.T. of Lakshdweep & new procuring States of Orissa, Bihar & Karnataka. The details of project of construction of godowns by FCI in 11th Plan are at Annexure. 

Annexure referred to in reply to part (f) & (g) of the Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3400 for answer on 27.08.2010

PROJECTS COMPLETED BY FCI UNDER XITH PLAN

Sl.No.	Name of Zone/Centre	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
OTHER THAN NORTH EAST
1.	Tumkur/Karnataka	5,000
2.	Dungrapalli/Orissa			10,000
NORTH EAST INCLUDING SIKKIM
1.	Bualpui/Mizoram	4,590
2.	Badarpurghat/Assam	5,000
3.	Chaulkhowa/Assam	2,500
4.	Nandannagar/Tripura		2,500
GRAND  TOTAL		17,090	2,500	10,000

ONGOING PROJECTS WITH FCI 

Sl. No.	Centre /State	Capacity (in MTs)
North East Region
1.	Changasari/Assam	50,000
2.	Hailakandi/Assam	5,000
3.	Kohima/Nagaland	5,000
4.	Nandannagar/Tripura	2,500
5.	Jiribam/Manipur	2,500
6.	Senapati/Manipur	5000
7.	Churachandpur/Manipur	2,500
8.	Jorthang/Sikkim	5,000
Other than NE Region
1.	Lakshadweep/UT	2,500
2.	Dungrapally/Orissa	10,000
3.	Baripada/Orissa	10,000
4	Mohania/Bihar	25,000
5.	Udhampur/J&K	15,000
6.	Budgam/J&K	20,000

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